Shelby Corcoran
Shelby Corcoran is the former coach of The Troubletones and Vocal Adrenaline. She is the biological mother of Rachel, and the adoptive mother of Puck and Quinn's daughter, named Beth. She is very talented, a trait passed on to her daughter, Rachel. She is just as competitive, although she doesn't resort to the underhanded tactics that her daughter will sometimes use against her opponents. Shelby departed McKinley in the eighth episode of Season Three,'' [[Hold on to Sixteen|''Hold on to Sixteen]]. She later reappeared in Season Four in the episode, Sweet Dreams. Shelby Corcoran is portrayed by Tony Award-winning actress Idina Menzel. Biography Season One Hell-O Shelby Corcoran appears as the coach of Vocal Adrenaline. In Hell-O, she is introduced watching Vocal Adrenaline perform Highway to Hell. When it's discovered that Shelby's lead performer Jesse St. James is taking a romantic interest in Rachel Berry, Will and the rest of the New Directions group become concerned. Believing that Jesse is a spy, Will confronts Shelby, who denies it and says "the heart wants what the heart wants." Soon after, Shelby and Will end up making out on Will's couch. However, Will stops her and says he can't, partly because of his new relationship with Emma Pillsbury and also partly because of his not-yet divorce from Terri. Surprised that he's not even divorced yet from his wife yet already starting a relationship with another woman, Shelby offers advice to Will about figuring himself out first before pursuing another romance. Feeling he's not quite ready for even casual sex and make-out sessions, she leaves, but not before saying she knew who he was before they met and that he had a "cute dimple chin." When Rachel confronts Jesse about whether or not he's using her and to see if he truly loved her, he assures her that his feelings for her are genuine and proceeds to kiss her. As he does so however, Jesse looks up, to see Shelby standing behind Rachel, watching. She gives him a little nod, implying that Shelby really is using Jesse to spy on Will and New Directions. Dream On Rachel confides in in a dream sequence.]]Jesse her lifelong dream to discover the identity of her biological mother. While they are searching through boxes of records from her basement, Jesse takes a tape from his jacket and pretends that it came from the box. The tape is labeled "From mother to daughter." Rachel refuses to listen to the tape, saying that she is not ready. Jesse later meets with Shelby in her car, where she reveals that she is Rachel's mother, but a contractual agreement prevents her from meeting with Rachel, to the point that she wasn't allowed to hold Rachel after she had been born. She implores Jesse to convince Rachel to listen to the tape, saying that not being able to meet Rachel is her one regret. Shelby sings I Dreamed a Dream''on the tape, leading to a duet with Rachel singing in a fantasy sequence. Theatricality When Rachel is spying on Vocal Adrenaline she finds out Shelby is her mother when she recognizes her voice while Shelby is singing ''Funny Girl. Rachel and Shelby don't have a loving reunion and Shelby tells Rachel she'll call her. Shelby fixes Rachel's terrible Lady Gaga outfit, when Rachel stops by and asks for help. Shelby later admits to Will that she wanted to bond with Rachel as she can't have any more children due to complications but agrees that she isn't ready for a teenage daughter and he encourages her to part ways with Rachel. Shelby meets with Rachel and says they should "be grateful for one another from afar." Rachel asks Shelby to sing with her, and they sing Poker Face together, accompanied by Brad on the piano. Funk Shelby is upset that Puck and Finn slashed the tires of Vocal Adrenaline's Range Rovers, but she decides not to press charges, and she persuades Figgins not to expel Puck and Finn. Instead, she insists that Puck and Finn pay for the damages. She recommends taking it out of the New Directions budget, but Will tells her that the club will go bankrupt. Finn then tells Shelby that he and Puck will get jobs and he promises Shelby that they will pay her within a month. Shelby is fine with that. Afterwards, Figgins tries to seduce Shelby by telling her that she is wise, magnanimous, and beautiful. Shelby then leaves Figgins' office because she was uncomfortable with what Figgins just said to her. Journey Shelby decides to retire from show choir after Vocal Adrenaline wins at Regionals, although Rachel suggests she could lead New Directions with Will. In the end, we see Shelby signing confirmation papers in order to adopt Puck and Quinn's daughter, Beth, as Rachel doesn't need her as a mother anymore. Season Two She didn't appear for the entire season, but she was mentioned by Rachel in Original Song. Season Three I Am Unicorn Shelby makes her return in the episode I Am Unicorn. She has been hired by Principal Figgins to direct a second Glee Club, made possible by the donation of Al Motta. Asian F Shelby briefly appears eating lunch with Coach Beiste. She is visibly disgusted by Beiste's big creamy bowl of pasta and admits that any girl in the school would join New Directions if they wanted to join a glee club before leaving. At the end of the episode, Mercedes comes to see her to ask if she can join her glee club, becoming the second member after Sugar. Shelby smiles and the episode ends. Pot O' Gold Puck and Quinn babysit Beth while Shelby has something to do. Quinn hid items such as hotsauce in the kitchen cabinet and baby botox in the bathroom in hopes she could prove Shelby is an unfit mother even though she isn't. Puck stops by later and secretly grabs all the anti child products Quinn has hid around the house and places them into his pockets. Shelby set's up a job for Puck at for her condo's pool and he gets it. He stops by to say thanks, waking up Beth from her sleep. He grabs his guitar and calms Beth as he plays. Shelby smiles at him. Puck sets down the guitar and walks with Shelby over to the crib to place Beth into. Their eyes then met and at the end of the episode Puck and Shelby share a dramatic kiss. Shelby kisses him back. Mash Off At the beginning of the episode Puck is seen fantasizing about Shelby as he performs "Hot for Teacher". Some time later, she is seen approaching Will in the teacher's lounge. She told Will that they haven't talked since Mercedes, Brittany, an Santana left the New Directions to join the Troubletones. She assures Will that she kept her promise not to recruit any of the New Direction members. It is then revealed that they already received their letters wit the information that they will compete against each other at sectionals. Will then tells Shelby that they would get along but the kids won't. Shelby answers that competition between the Troubletones and New Directions might bring out the best of then. It is then that the idea of a mash-off was conceived so the kids could channel their fighting spirit into something great. Shelby and Will ordered the two groups to assemble at the auditorium, where they perform "You and I/You and I" causing the trash talk between the two groups to stop. They explained the purpose of the mash-off and commenced it. After class, Puck tells Shelby that he is in love with her. Her response was "Oh God." Puck thinks they should be together because one: She's hot, two: he's hot and three: "Beth needs a dad and why shouldn't it be her real dad?." Shelby rejects Puck, claiming he has a crush on her that will go away. Puck pushes further describing his dream of taking pictures for their Hanukkah cards or renting an RV to head out as a family to Coachella. Puck says "you know this is going to happen" and winks at her before leaving the classroom. Later, while in the auditorium, Rachel approached Shelby so she can sign the recommendation letter Rachel has written ahead. Shelby praised Rachel's CV and expressed her support for her. Rachel then asked Shelby if she could write the recommendation herself, to which she agreed. At the Troubletones' rehearsal room, she is seen warming up the group. Mercedes arrived and suggested an Adele mash-up and Shelby though it was a great idea. When Santana and Mercedes argued, Mercedes self-nominated herself as Troubletones' president and Shelby and the girls vote in favor of her. Later in the week, Puck comes over to help Shelby put together the crib, but ends up playing with Beth the entire time. Shelby watches the father-daughter interaction intently and smiles. She tells Puck how good he is with Beth. Puck eventually spills the truth about Quinn's plot to try to get Beth back. The following scene, she is seen watching during the performance of I Can't Go for That/You Make My Dreams. Quinn comes to Shelby's house bringing a present for Beth. Shelby outraged about finding out that Quinn tried to take Beth away from her. She tells Quinn that it doesn't matter whose body she came out of but how you put yourself second. She then asks Quinn to leave. Later in the week, she is seen beside Will Schuester during the performance of Rumor Has It/Someone Like You. I Kissed a Girl Shelby calls Puck into the emergency room during school stating that she had no one else to call. The doctor informs the parents that Beth will need stitches after her fall which caused her to bite through her skin. Puck demands that his daughter sees a plastic surgeon instead. He comforts Shelby. She is finally unable to resist Puck and they sleep together. Afterwards, Shelby has trouble coming to grips with what she has just done and makes Puck leave. Angry, Puck tells Quinn a secret, presumably that he slept with Shelby. Shelby sings Constant Craving with Santana and Kurt. Hold on to Sixteen Quinn attempts to tell Principal Figgins about Puck's affair with Shelby, continuously giving hints to Shelby. Then, at Regionals, while The Troubletones perform, Shelby tells her that it was a mistake and that she thought it would make her feel younger, but it just made her feel older. Then Shelby leaves saying that she was going to enjoy her last moments of being a teacher. After the Troubletones join The New Directions, nothing is known of what happened to Shelby afterwards. Heart Puck says he has tried true love, and Mike says "Yeah, with the teacher," obviously referencing Puck's crush on Shelby. Season Four Sweet Dreams ]]Shelby arrives to help Rachel with her Funny Girl audition, telling her that she shouldn't use a Funny Girl song, that instead of being a Barbra clone she should be original and pick a different song. They then start to sing ''Next to Me together. It is revealed she is currently living in New York with Beth and is running a Broadway daycare center, where Broadway actors and actresses will drop off their kids and Shelby watches over them, as well as playing theatre games with them. Songs Solos Season One: FunnyGirl.jpg|Funny Girl (Theatricality)|link=Funny Girl Solos (In A Duet) Season One: Shelby rachel.jpg|I Dreamed a Dream (Rachel) (Dream On)|link=I Dreamed a Dream 49fa0fecc10314c4d4bda8e0d4fb9650da631ee1-Glee-03-2010-05-25.jpg|Poker Face (Rachel) (Theatricality)|link=Poker Face Season Three: Tumblr lrw2ilmM9s1qfkkmwo1 500.jpg|Somewhere (Rachel) (I Am Unicorn)|link=Somewhere YouAndIGlee.png|You and I/You and I (Will) (Mash Off)|link=You and I/You and I Season Four: Rachel-Shelby season 4.png|Next to Me (Rachel) (Sweet Dreams)|link=Next to Me Solos (In A Group Number) Trivia *Often wears the colors black or purple. *She is left-handed. (As seen in Asian F) *She knows how to play piano. (As seen in Mash Off) *She has played Maria in West Side Story 18 times. (Stated in I Am Unicorn) *Beth was adopted by Shelby from Quinn. (Journey) *After giving up Rachel, she (similar to Quinn in early Season 3) cut her hair like Sinéad O'Connor and got a Regis Philbin tattoo. (I Am Unicorn) *Was told by Sugar that her voice has a nasally quality. *Called Puck at the hospital saying she had no one else to turn too. *Was former show choir coach of Vocal Adrenaline before adopting Beth and then stepping down. *Believes Puck is "surprisingly sweet." *Told Quinn that while her beauty may last forever, her youth will not (Hold on to Sixteen). *Wants Puck and Quinn to be a part of Beth's life. *Rachel's parents played Vivaldi into her stomach when she was pregnant with Rachel (Dream On). *Can't do math without a calculator. (Funk) *She has sang two Lady Gaga duets on the show - first ''Poker Face ''with Rachel in Theatricality and then ''You and I/You and I ''with Will in Mash Off. Gallery Quotes Category:Characters Category:Minor Characters Category:Former William McKinley High School Teachers Category:Former Glee Club Directors